June 10, 2009 Emergency Management Higher Education Program
Notes of the Day
(1) Comparative Emergency Management – Textbook Development Project:
Received for review from Comparative EM textbook developer/editor, Dr. David McEntire, University of North Texas, the Introduction and Conclusion Chapters of this forth-coming book.
From Conclusion:
The authors of this book have provided a picture of emergency management systems in the United States, Canada, England, Scandinavia, Malawi, Turkey, Korea and China. This concluding chapter examines each country in terms of the nature of hazards and vulnerability, the occurrence of disasters, the historical development of emergency management, the direction of disaster policies/organizations/initiatives, and the lessons gleaned from comparative emergency management research.
This material will be sent this week to the EMI web staff to upload to the EM Hi-Ed Program website – Free College Course and Book Materials Section – Books Under Development subsection – Comparative Emergency Management Textbook – where they should be accessible shortly at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/CompEmMgmtBookProject.asp
Though a concluding chapter has been written, in that this is an electronic textbook, it is the intent of the FEMA EM Hi-Ed Program to add chapters on EM Programs in other countries as funding and potential author interest become available. A Chapter on Russia, for example, is about to go into production.
(2) ConAgra Food Plant Explosion, Garner, NC – Chemical Safety Board Press Release:
At: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://www.csb.gov/
(3) Hurricane Ike Federal Aid Tops $1 Billion:
Houston Business Journal. “Hurricane Ike Aid to Texas Reaches $1 Billion.” June 9, 2009. Accessed at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2009/06/08/daily17.html?ana=fox
(4) Hurricane Preparedness:
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery. Are We Ready?: A Status Report on Emergency Preparedness for the 2009 Hurricane Season (Hearing Transcript). Washington, DC: U.S., Senate, June 4, 2009.
Witnesses Testimony
Panel 1
The Honorable W. Craig Fugate [View PDF], Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Panel 2
Major General Frank Grass, Director of Operations , United States Northern Command
Mr. George Foresman [View PDF] , Advisory Board Co-Chairman, Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association and former DHS Undersecretary for Preparedness and Emergency Response
Mr. Armond Mascelli [View PDF] , Vice President, Disaster Operations, American Red Cross
Ms. Janet Durden [View PDF], President, United Way of Northeast Louisiana
(5) Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration – Final USACE Technical Report:
“On June 9, the LACPR team released the LACPR Final Technical Report for review by National policy reviewers, other Federal agencies, the State of Louisiana, non-governmental organizations, and the public. The Corps is currently accepting comments until the comment period closes on July 24, 2009.” Accessed at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://lacpr.usace.army.mil/
(6) Pandemic-Related:
Congressional Research Service (Tiaji Salaam-Blyther). The 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) ‘Swine Flu” Outbreak: U.S. Responses to Global Human Cases. Washington, DC: May 26, 2009, 19 pages. Accessed at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40588.pdf
Government Accountability Office. Influenza Pandemic: Continued Focus on the Nation’s Planning and Preparedness Efforts Remains Essential (GAO-09-760T). Washington, DC: GAO, June 3, 2009, 28 pages. Accessed at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-760T
Summary:
As the recent outbreak of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus underscores, an influenza pandemic remains a real threat to our nation and to the world. Over the past 3 years, GAO has conducted a body of work to help the nation better prepare for a possible pandemic. In a February 2009 report, GAO synthesized the results of this work, pointing out that while the previous administration had taken a number of actions to plan for a pandemic, including developing a national strategy and implementation plan, much more needs to be done, and many gaps in preparedness and planning still remain. This statement is based on the February 2009 report which synthesized the results of 11 reports and two testimonies covering six thematic areas: (1) leadership, authority, and coordination; (2) detecting threats and managing risks; (3) planning, training, and exercising, (4) capacity to respond and recover; (5) information sharing and communication; and (6) performance and accountability.
(1) Leadership roles and responsibilities for an influenza pandemic need to be clarified, tested, and exercised, and existing coordination mechanisms, such as critical infrastructure coordinating councils, could be better utilized to address challenges in coordination between the federal, state, and local governments and the private sector in preparing for a pandemic. (2) Efforts are underway to improve the surveillance and detection of pandemic-related threats in humans and animals, but targeting assistance to countries at the greatest risk has been based on incomplete information, particularly from developing countries. (3) Pandemic planning and exercising has occurred at the federal, state, and local government levels, but important planning gaps remain at all levels of government. (4) Further actions are needed to address the capacity to respond to and recover from an influenza pandemic, which will require additional capacity in patient treatment space, and the acquisition and distribution of medical and other critical supplies, such as antivirals and vaccines. (5) Federal agencies have provided considerable guidance and pandemic-related information to state and local governments, but could augment their efforts with additional information on state border closures and other topics. (6) Performance monitoring and accountability for pandemic preparedness needs strengthening. For example, the May 2006 National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan does not establish priorities among its 324 action items and does not provide information on the financial resources needed to implement them. The recent outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus should serve as a powerful reminder that the threat of a pandemic influenza, which seemed to fade from public awareness in recent years, never really disappeared. While federal agencies have taken action on 1 3 of GAO's 23 recommendations, 10 of the recommendations that GAO has made over the past 3 years are still not fully implemented. With the possibility that the H1N1 virus could return in a more virulent form in a second wave in the fall or winter, the administration and federal agencies should turn their attention to filling in the planning and preparedness gaps GAO's work has pointed out.
(7) Political and Policy Basis of Emergency Management – EM Hi-Ed Course Revision:
Received for review and approval from Dr. Richard Sylves, University of Delaware, Session 9, “The Federal Organization and Policy.” This 22-page, 2-hour session has the following objectives:
9.1 Explain the evolution of Federal emergency management in the United States highlighting the creation of FEMA.
9.2 Explain how the initial functions that were transferred to FEMA and the original objectives placed on the agency led to the origin and creation of a number of political issues that continue today.
9.3 List the specific missions of FEMA and describe the significance and political implications of FEMA’s current policy of emphasizing mitigation measures.
9.4 Describe the organizational structure of FEMA and identify some of the key politically appointed leadership positions within FEMA.
9.5 Summarize the implications of FEMA’s incorporation into the Department of Homeland Security in the years after the 9/11 terror attacks.
9.6 Furnish an overview of what the Post-Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2007 means to FEMA’s organization and management.
Scope of Session 9:
This session canvasses the mission and organization of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It describes the organizational evolution of FEMA and the political issues affecting its organization at the outset of the Agency’s creation. It examines in general terms FEMA’s core organization and functions. This session serves to tie the laws, the President, and the Congress (as reviewed in the previous sessions) to an emergency management organizational context. The session also incorporates FEMA and executive branch re-organization first in the months and years after the 9/11 attacks of 2001, and second re- organization that took place after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Post-Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2007.
This material will be sent this week to the EMI web staff to upload to the EM Hi-Ed Program website – Free College Course Materials Section – Courses Under Revision subsection – Political and Policy Basis of Emergency Management Course: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cgi-shl/goodbye.asp?url=http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/polpolbasis.asp
(8) This Day in U.S. Disaster History – Cholera, Cleveland Ohio – June 10 – October 1832
“The disease was introduced into Cleveland with the arrival of the steamboat Henry Clay on 10 June. Engaged to transport soldiers to fight in the Black Hawk War, the boat was returning to Buffalo with a number of cholera cases. Prevented from docking in Detroit, the Clay was in need of help. Its presence provoked great excitement; some proposed to burn it if it remained. Village trustees determined that everything should be done to aid the sufferers but at the same time protect the citizens. Physicians and supplies were furnished to the men from the Clay, at barracks on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River. The boat was fumigated and 3 days later departed for Buffalo. In the interim, several crewmen died, and the disease soon manifested itself in various locations in the village, even among those with no exposure to the boat or its crew. The epidemic lasted a month, claiming 50 lives. In October an unexplained recurrence struck down 14 people, all of whom died within 3 days.” (The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, “The Cholera Epidemic of 1832)
(9) Email Inbox Backlog: 966 unanswered emails.
(10) FEMA EM Hi-Ed Notes of the Day Distribution: 23,949 subscribers.
B. Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM
Higher Education Program Manager
Emergency Management Institute
National Preparedness Directorate
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Department of Homeland Security
16825 S. Seton, K-011
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu
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